Health law at one year: Future still in questionThe Associated Press via Yahoo News Share One year after President Barack Obama signed his historic healthcare overhaul, the law is taking root in the land. Whether it bears lasting fruit is still in question. The legislation established health insurance as a right and a responsibility. Thousands of families, businesses and seniors have benefited from its early provisions. But worries about affordability and complexity point to problems ahead. And that's assuming it
withstands a make-or-break challenge to its constitutionality that the Supreme Court is expected to decide.More

It's not too late to join your AAHAM peers in Washington for Legislative Day 2011AAHAM Share There is still time to register for this important event! Our program is designed to maximize your time in Washington, D.C. Not only will you hear from key government speakers and meet with senators, representatives and their staffs, you may also have the opportunity to sit in on important hearings, see the House in session or visit the Supreme Court. This is a tremendous opportunity to become involved at the grassroots level. Only
minimal time away from the office is required as you can arrive in Washington on Wednesday, March 30, and return home Thursday evening. Remember, your participation ensures a future for your organization or your company as well as providing you with an opportunity to advocate on behalf of your personal healthcare needs and expectations.
Check out our Leg Day video series at AAHAM's YouTube Channel.

Patients say they would pay more quickly with online accessAmerican Medical News Share Patients suggest that if physicians want to improve their collections, they should provide online access. An Intuit Health survey found that patients often are late in paying not because they don't have
the money, but because they are confused about their bills. The survey said emailing questions and paying online would correct the delay quickly. This would also reduce the administrative costs physicians run up by sending multiple mailings to collect one bill.More

HHS releases its
quality improvement strategyMedical News Today Share The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in
Healthcare (National Quality Strategy). The strategy was called for under the Affordable Care Act and is the first effort to create national aims and priorities to guide local, state, and national efforts to improve the quality of healthcare in the United States. The strategy is designed to move the system to work better for doctors and other healthcare providers — reducing their administrative burdens and helping them collaborate to improve care.More

Healthcare administration simplificationAAHAM Share As you know, there is lots of dialogue on Capitol Hill right now about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and efforts by House Republicans to repeal this law. Whatever happens with the law, we need to reinforce with our legislators to keep administrative simplification (Section 1104) to help reduce costs and increase efficiency in healthcare operations. Please click here to ACT NOW and send an email to your congressmen — to retain administrative simplification in whatever healthcare reform legislation is enacted.More

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services updates EHR incentive FAQsModern Healthcare Share Providers puzzled by the requirements for participation in the government's electronic health-record incentive programs will find an updated list of answers to frequently asked EHR questions on the CMS
website. The agency recently added to its collection of more than 100 questions about meaningful use, eligibility and other aspects of the program.More

Design your practice to maximize efficiencyMedical Economics via ModernMedicine Share Keeping patient traffic moving smoothly through your office starts with — as much as possible — realistic scheduling. Smooth patient flow, in
addition to being a sure-fire patient-pleaser, makes for a happier, less stressed staff and reduces the need for crisis management and costly overtime.More

RACs and the 2-pocket theoryRAC Monitor Share At a recent healthcare conference in New York, the subject of miscoded charts and insufficient clinical documentation being a chronic issue within hospital billing was discussed at length. With the threat of Medicare take-backs due to the RAC Audits looming over hospital balance sheets, it is certainly a hot-button issue. What seemingly is being overlooked, however, is the paradigm of how physicians and hospitals are
reimbursed.More

OCR requests more funding for HIPAA enforcementHealth Data Management Share The HHS Office for Civil Rights, in its fiscal year 2010 budget request, is asking for $46.7 million in funding, an increase of $5.6 million over the current level, with 76 percent of the new funds going for increased enforcement of health information privacy and security rules. The increase reflects a sharply increased workload because of the HITECH Act's provisions to strengthen and more aggressively enforce the HIPAA
privacy and security rules, as well as enforcement of the breach notification rule.More

Reconsider common staffing
misconceptionsFiercePracticeManagement Share When it comes to hiring the best employees for your medical practice, standard wisdom includes a surprising
number of meritless wives' tales. Breaking a few staffing "rules" may turn out to benefit your office.More

Carelessness behind many health data breachesAmerican Medical News Share For all the high-tech security work that physician practices do so that no outsiders get unauthorized access to their patients' data, one very low-tech cause of data insecurity often is overlooked: plain old forgetfulness.More